It's Always Goodbye
by paynesgrey
Summary: They always come and go, and she wishes Hiro had been different. Hiro x Claire . Five Years Gone Universe. ONESHOT.


AN: Written for the Fear of Changes for 13fears on Livejournal.

It's Always Goodbye

She looks into his deep coal eyes and frowns because she knows he's not lying.

Hiro never lies.

"Sandra, I'm sorry," he says. She's thankful he at least sounds sincere. She smiles sadly. He's never been anything but.

She shifts closer to him, as he stays silent. She's afraid if she loses the nearness of his body heat that she'll lose her memories of him too.

She hasn't known him long, but he comes into the diner often and she's sensed loneliness within him that she hasn't found in anyone else.

In this war torn time, they are similar. In him, she's found a friend.

And now he has to leave her.

A shiver runs down her spin as he draws his hand away from her shoulder. Her life is changing again, and her heart knows the routine and turns numb.

--

The first time they meet is almost forgettable, but she knows that Hiro remembers just as well as she does.

"Can I getcha a cup of coffee?" she asks with a slight drawl. Her mysterious new customer looks into her face, and she senses pain within him right away. It's not the same pain she sees in everyone else; this is much more.

"Tea if you have it." She nods and notices he's closing the menu.

"Anything to eat?" She notices a glimmer of light rise in his somber expression.

"Waffles," he answers, and he meets her gaze. She catches a small smile before it disappears, and she feels somewhat hopeful inside. Maybe he's not totally lost after all.

--

"Of all the diners why did you come into mine?" she asks him one evening. They're lounging on her couch, and she's draped across his chest. It is a rare time because Hiro never spends time with her. He's always gone doing his 'secret missions' or so that's what he tells her. Tonight is pleasingly different. Unexpectedly, he shows up at her doorstep with takeout all the way from Japan. She knows this even though he tries to hide it, but she can tell from the writing on the receipt. There's definitely no place like that here in Odessa.

Hiro's voice chimes in after some silence. She feels his lazy caress on the bare part of her forearm. "Because I used to know a girl who worked here. She was very special to me." He turns to her and looks into her eyes and sees something she probably could never see herself. "You remind me of her." The smile he gives her is reminiscent and childlike.

It's the reason she kisses him, and her life changes when he kisses her back.

--

Today Hiro tastes like waffles. He pops in to see her after her shift and startles her. When she realizes the surprise, she rewards him with a quick kiss.

"Where'd you get waffles? Are you cheating with another diner?" she teases. Hiro does not smile, and it concerns her. She usually can get something out of him despite his usual grim expressions.

"I ran into some trouble today, Sandra," he says forlornly. She pauses to read his face.

"You look as though someone died!"

"Many people died, and I'm the reason." She can tell he hates his own honesty, but despite the morbidity, she feels honored he entrusts her with the information.

"Bad people?"

"Sandra, I'm fighting to help people like me. I told you this, remember?"

"Hmm, and I support you," she says and pulls him against her. She wishes she could be so brave to tell him her own secret, but she's still scared.

There's a lot she doesn't know about Hiro, and she has to keep her promise to her dad.

He finally says, "I have to go away for awhile."

She knows she can't stop him. She never can. He comes and goes, but he always returns.

She still can't stop the tears.

"Okay," she says.

It doesn't really feel like a kiss when he pops out through time and space. She takes what she can get anyway.

--

He's leaving for good now, and he won't be coming back.

"So this is it, huh?" Somewhere amidst her tears, she loses her drawl.

Hiro doesn't say anything, but his eyes pour onto her with sorrow. She thinks it's okay. Hiro is never one for a lot of words anyway.

She laughs ruefully. "I'm going to miss my favorite customer."

"Someone noticed I was hanging around here, Sandra. I can't stay, and I can't return. I have to go back to New York and complete my mission," he explains. Her ears start to ring, and she swears she's heard this speech a thousand times before.

She leans her forehead against his strong chest, and she closes her eyes. "My real father, my real mother, my dad, my uncle… they've all left me. Not too mention all the jerks I've dated." She sighs, and she looks into Hiro's eyes and she hopes he can feel her pain. Her life is changing again just when she was starting to enjoy it – just when she was starting to feel hope again in this broken world.

"I thought you were different."

He grips her arms and looking sternly into her eyes. "Before the explosion, I _was_ different, and I'm guessing, so were you."

"Do you really have to do this?" she asks lamely. It's pointless to try; she knows.

"It's why I have these powers, Sandra."

"I'm not Sandra," she says, and she lets her arms drop to her sides. He looks at her with confusion. "My name is Claire." She guffaws. "Just like you, I've been running and hiding ever since the explosion."

"S…Claire?" He's speechless, and she almost regrets not telling him sooner. He's leaving anyway, so wonders if it really matters.

"I'm sorry I never told you the truth. I'm hiding because …"

"It's okay; you don't have to tell me." He takes her in to his arms, and Claire wonders if she should run away or give into his warmth once again. She stills.

"Hiro, you can always come back," she says.

She's never thought his expression could get any more forlorn.

"I know," he says politely. She hugs him tightly, and she fears the moment he'll pop out through time from her arms.

"Save the world," she whispers.

She feels his lips press lightly on the top of her head.

Then, her life changes again when she opens her eyes and realizes she's clutching air.

She leans against the wall and falls to the ground crying. The exit door opens and startles her, and she looks into the face of the busboy.

Awkwardly, she wipes her tears away and puts on a fake smile. "Oh, it's you, Andy."

He pulls her to her feet and draws her inside the warm diner.

She meets his eyes and sees comfort there, and her body shivers.

Claire fears the changes that will come for her once again.

END


End file.
